Method of canning peas



Oct. 11, 1938. w. SCHRODER 2,133,117

METHOD OF CANNING' PEAS Filed July 15, 1936 Illll I IIIIIH IN VEN TOR WIT/v E5555" @ZZLLOZ.

Patented Oct. 11, 1938 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE 1 METHOD OF CANNING PEAS Walter L. Schroder, Hortonvllle, Wis.

Application July 13,

2 Claims.

This invention has 101- its object to provide a step in the method of canning peas, spinach,

and the like, that will preserve the natural flavor and the natural green color that are frequently 5 lost as a development of an acid condition either in the cooking or later. 1

Heretofore canned peas, canned spinach, and

similar green vegetables have usually acquired a brownish color and a flat taste quite unnatural 1o to the freshly cooked goods, and this has been determined to be due to the development of acid during the cooking or subsequently, which acid may not only attack the contents of the can but occasionally the metal of the can itself to produce these undesirable results.

(attempts have been made to correct this acidity hy the addition of a neutralizing agent, but it is how determined that such attempts thave been incomplete or only partially successful. for the reason that the neutralizing agent having been added to the material at the time of canning, or

previously, has spent its force before the goods are completely cooked, or before the time when the maximum acidity is developed, and conse- 2c quently there has been a failure of complete neutralization.

- It is the object of the present invention to delay the action of the neutralizing agent so that it will not be spent in eifervescence before the 80 can is sealed and before cooking takes place. The

invention contemplates such delayed action as results from adding the neutralizing agent in the :lform of a body insulated by an inert coating that will subsequently break down under the influil ence of the heat of cooking, or becomedissolved under that influence, so as tobe liberated by the time the cooking is completed, such coating being of a material harmless to the food contents of the can.

a The specific form in which the invention is now commercially used is .a gelatin capsule containing bicarbonate of soda as the neutralizing agent, the telescopic gelatin capsule being easily provided 1936, Serial No. 90,270

with the measured quantity of the neutralizing agent and being dropped in each can just prior to the sealing of the can. The capsule remains intact until near the end of the cooking operation when the heat is sumclent to cause it to break 5 down and liberate the bicarbonate of soda to neutralize the developing acidity before it accomplishes its damaging eficcts.

Incidental to the use this method them is not only a preservation of the natural taste and 1:1: color of the goods but they are slightly carbonated as the result of the neutralizing action while the can is sealed, and this further adds to the taste and quality of the goods.

The invention is not limited to the use of hil5 carbonate of soda, as various equivalent neutralizing agents will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art, and. neither is it limited to the use of gelatin capsules, or 'sugar'coated pellets capable of resisting disintegration until after the can is 20 sealed and heated, as various other coating materials will suggest themselves to one skilled in the art.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, A representsa can containing peas or the like B, and C indicates the gelatin capsule containing the neutralizing agent D of bicarbonate of soda or the like.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: a

1. The step in the method of canning peas and the like which consists in adding a neutralizing agent contained in a 'coating impervious to the contents of the can but sensitive to the cookin temperature so that when the can is sealed and cooked the neutralizing agent becomes liberated to neutralize the inherent acidity.

2. The step in the process of canning peas and r the like which consists in adding to the contents of each can before it is sealed a gelatin capsule containing bicarbonate of soda.

' 1 WALTER BCHRJODER. 

